


Bruised Heart

by kutekasplon



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Eddie Kaspbrak is a Mess, Friends to Lovers, M/M, They are so in love, mentions of abuse, mike deserves the world, ughh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-06-11 04:44:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15307737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kutekasplon/pseuds/kutekasplon
Summary: Eddie and Mike are in love, but no one wants to face it until a situation brings them together





	Bruised Heart

Eddie hadn’t expected to end up in the emergency room when he woke up this morning. He hadn’t expected to feel a pounding in his head when he opened his eyes, or feel his entire body throb in pain. He looked around to see that he was in the hospital room by himself, all the memories from this morning came rushing back.

He was getting ready to go hang out with the losers for the day when his boyfriend Henry stopped him. “Where are you going?”

“Out to the grocery store,” he lied smoothly trying to keep his composure. He couldn’t tell Henry where he was going, Eddie didn’t want to know what would happen if he brought up the losers.

“You went last week,” Henry stated, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I um, forgot something that I need for tonight’s dinner.” Eddie was praying that he sounded convincing. He watched as the wheels turned in Henry’s mind thinking about what Eddie just said, deciding if he believes him.

“Alright,” Henry said. Eddie let out a relieved sigh that was quickly cut short by Henry’s next words. “I’ll go with you.”

Eddie shook his head, “You don’t have to I promise. It’s just one thing, and it’ll take me five minutes to grab.” His panic started to rise when he saw that look on the other man’s face. Eddie knew exactly what that face meant, it terrified him.

“You’re lying to me,” the lack of emotion in Henry’s voice only deepened Eddie’s panic.

“N-no, I promise I’m not,” Henry grabbed Eddie’s wrist and pushed him against the wall.

“Where are you going, Eddie?” Henry yelled, his face getting red, the anger is evident.

Eddie felt the tears start to sting his eyes as he spoke weakly, “The grocery store, I promise.” He hated how broken he sounded saying the lie, but he just wanted to see his friends, see Mike.

Ever since they were kids, Eddie and Mike had always had this special friendship. He was Eddie’s saving grace when he couldn’t stand being around his mother, or when the bullies became too much. No matter what Mike was always there for him. In high school, Eddie’s feelings of friendship shifted to feelings of wanting to be with Mike. At first, he paid no attention to them. Everyone liked Mike, so maybe, just maybe it was just normal friendship feelings.

Then things started to change, Eddie would feel like his heart was going to beat out of his chest anytime Mike touched him. Or he would get nervous sweats anytime the losers would ask Eddie who he likes. Eddie didn’t want to trouble Mike with his feelings, because he wasn’t stable. If they got together Mike would eventually get tired of Eddie’s constant neediness, and leave. He kept all his feelings bottled up and didn’t tell anyone, not even Richie who knew everything about Eddie, and eventually, the feelings faded, and he met Henry.

When Eddie was getting coffee and his favorite place Henry approached him and started to apologize for everything that he did to Eddie. Eddie was surprised to say the least, Henry Bowers was the last person that Eddie would ever think to say sorry willingly. Henry told Eddie that he was taking all his anger out on Eddie because he was jealous. Jealous that Eddie wasn’t afraid to be who he was. 

Eddie being Eddie accepted the apology thinking that people deserve second chances. From there they exchanged numbers and started to talk more often. Next thing you know Henry is asking him out, and he says yes. They begin to date and Eddie “introduces” Henry to the losers, they all supported Eddie. He and Henry were happy, and his happiness was all that mattered.

Things started to change a few months after they got together. Henry would get more aggressive from time to time, he also became very short-tempered. Then one night Henry came home from work angry and hit Eddie. Eddie didn’t don’t know what to do when he felt the hard smack on his face. He ran into the bathroom in his and Henry’s shared house and cried for hours. He fell asleep in the bathroom and the next morning Henry acted like nothing happened. On Eddie’s side of the bed sat a note and a gift.

In the note, Henry apologized. He knew that he shouldn’t give Henry a second chance, but this was probably a slip-up, and it won’t happen again. Henry loved him, so there was no reason for him to be irrational and leave. He covered up the bruise on his cheek with makeup and went to work. Everything was fine again for a couple weeks until they got in a fight and Henry hit Eddie again. This time it wasn’t just a smack to the cheek it was a punch, Eddie could taste the blood on his lip. He ran into the bathroom and the process from last time started over. Henry gave him another gift, except this time no apology.

The beatings started to happen more often, Eddie still couldn’t bring himself to leave. He began to believe that the reason why Henry was doing this was his fault. It had to be, Henry wouldn’t be punishing him if he wasn’t doing anything wrong. Which brought him to the moment right now. Eddie was shook from his thoughts by the sound of Henry’s angry voice.

“No you’re not, and you wanna know how I know that you’re lying?” Eddie knew not to answer the question; he just waited for Henry to continue. “Because last night while you were sleeping your phone went off, and I wanted to know who was texting my boyfriend that late at night.”

The tears were now falling, he knew that this was a bad idea. Instead of finishing what he was saying Henry grabbed Eddie by the hair roughly and threw him to the ground. Deciding it was best to not fight Eddie let it happen, he didn’t care about what was being done to him. When he felt the first kick to his stomach, he didn’t make a sound. The pain was unbearable, but Eddie didn’t want to give Henry the satisfaction of knowing that he was causing Eddie pain. He was so numb to everything that was going on he didn’t hear the words that Henry was spitting at him. Henry said one last thing before grabbing his keys and leaving. Before Eddie passed out, he dialed 911, when he heard the faint noise of the woman in the receiver he muttered help and let the darkness take over his vision. 

~

Mike knew something was wrong when it had been an hour, and Eddie still wasn’t at the coffee shop. He knew something was wrong for months when Eddie stopped texting all of them on a regular basis. Ever since Eddie and Henry started dating, he’s been distancing himself from the losers.

Mike didn’t like Henry one bit, and it wasn’t just because Mike was hopelessly in love with Eddie. It was because Mike vividly remembers him and the losers getting bullied by Henry and his goons. Especially Eddie, all the jokes were usually aimed at his sexuality. Mike recalled on countless occasions comforting Eddie on days when the “jokes” especially were terrible.

That’s why the losers were so shocked when Eddie brought Henry to “meet” the losers. Everyone would talk about how much they hated Henry, and here Eddie was a few years later talking about how much he loved him. The night that Eddie said those words was the first time Mike cried in a long time. He didn’t know that seeing the one person he loved the most be happy would hurt him like this. He wanted Eddie to be happy, he really did, but he didn’t want it to be with Henry. Mike felt he was selfish, so he tried to be happy for Eddie no matter what.

It surprised everyone when Eddie sent a text to the group chat asking to hang out and made them worry when Eddie was late.

“Do you guys think he’s okay?” Richie asked while checking his phone.

“Maybe he’s stuck in traffic,” Stan suggested taking a sip out of his drink. Mike didn’t think so, even if he was Eddie would have texted or something to let them know that he was going to be late. Just when he was going to suggest someone checks on him, Mike felt his phone vibrate.

“Hello,” he said into the phone.

“Hi, am I speaking to Mike Hanlon,” the lady asked.

“Um yes, how can I help you,” all the losers were looking at Mike in curiosity.

“I’m calling on behalf of your friend Eddie Kaspbrak, he was hospitalized this morning, and you were listed as his emergency contact.”

Mike’s heart dropped at the woman’s words, “I’ll be right over.” He pressed the decline button then turned to the losers.

“They just told me that Eddie is in the hospital, we have to get over there.” Mike ran to his car and turned on the ignition. Trying not to get a ticket Mike drove to the hospital. He knew that if Henry was the reason why Eddie was hurt that he was going to kill him.

Soon, Mike saw the sign of the hospital and pulled into the parking lot. He turned off the car and ran inside to the front desk, the losers followed after him. The lady was typing away on her computer, but stopped when she noticed their frazzled state, “How can I help you?” she asked with a worried smile on her face.

“I got a call saying that Eddie Kaspbrak was here,” The lady typed something into the computer then spoke.

“He’s in room 123, just down the hall. Only one person at a time can go in,” Mike knew that Bill was going to protest, but Ben grabbed his hand to stop him.

“It’s okay Mikey, we’ll wait out here,” all the losers nodded, Mike smiled in thanks and quickly walked to the room. Before he opened the door, he took a deep breath and entered. Eddie was awake and looked at Mike with full eye’s as the door opened. Bruises were forming around Eddie’s eyes. Mike couldn’t see the full damage, but he knew there was more. It didn’t seem like anything was broken, and Mike was thankful for that. The bandages that covered his arms and the pained look on his were an indication that even though nothing was broken Eddie was still hurt, and not just physical.

Instead of saying anything Mike walked over to Eddie and pulled him into a tight embrace. He was careful not to hurt the other boy. Mike felt Eddie’s arms wrap around him slowly. He wasn’t sure if the small motion was hurting Eddie, but he still held on. He knew that Eddie was crying when he felt tears fall into the crook of his neck. He lifted his arm and started to rub Eddie’s back in a comforting way.

“I know sweetheart, I know,” was the only thing Mike said, letting the nickname slip. They stayed in that position for a while. Every once in a while Mike would mutter something to Eddie that would either make him tighten his grip or cause more tears to fall. They finally pulled apart when Eddie stopped crying.

Mike gave Eddie another once over then spoke, “Did he do this?” Mike watched as Eddie nodded his head yes.

“How long?” Mike asked, trying to not show his anger, that was the last thing Eddie needed right now.

“A little after we started to date,” Eddie was playing with his hands nervously. He was too afraid to see the look on Mike’s face.

“Eddie,” Mike’s voice sounded strained as he said his name. Eddie looked up and saw that Mike was trying to hold back tears.

“Please don’t cry,” Eddie urged. “It was all my fault, I ke-” his words were cut off by Mike’s.

“No, none of this was your fault. I promise Eddie, whatever you did to make him angry doesn’t mean that you deserved this,” Mike grabbed the sides of Eddie’s face and looked him in the eye’s. “You didn’t deserve anything that he did to you, okay?”

Eddie shook his head, “But I-”

“No, there is nothing that you could have done to deserve this, no matter what you think,” Mike watched as Eddie sighed.

“Okay, whatever you say,” happy with the answer Mike kissed Eddie on the forehead then pulled him in for another hug. Eddie was going to have to find somewhere else to live, he wasn’t going back, Mike wouldn’t allow that. Sensing that Eddie didn’t want to talk about it anymore, Mike changed the subject.

“Everyone is here to see you,” Mike pointed out.

Eddie gave him a weak smile, “That’s great Mike.”

After the losers convinced the lady at the front to let them see Eddie, they all rushed into the room. Everyone greeted Eddie with a hug, soon the room was filled with laughter. Eddie was able to forget the events of today for a little while. He felt terrible for not talking for the losers for so long.

“Guy’s, I’m sorry that I left you all,” he blurted out.

“You don’t hu-have to apologize. It was a tu-tough situation,” Bill replied. Eddie was happy that none of the losers were mad at him even if they should be.

“So Eds,” Richie started. “Where are you gonna live now?”

“Oh-uh, I guess I’ll go back-”

“Nope, that is not an option,” Mike interrupted. “You can come to my place if you need to, but you aren’t going back there.”

Eddie went to protest, but Mike cut him off with a look. “Fine,” he grumbled, “But you have to help me get my stuff.”

“We all will,” Ben cut in. Everyone nodded in agreement. They continued to talk for a little bit longer until Bill and Ben had to leave to go pick up something for their apartment. Soon everyone but Mike left, and it was only him and Eddie in the room again.

“Are you sure you want me to live with you?” Eddie asked while playing with his hands.

“Of course, it’s a lot safer, and there is room. It gets too quiet in the apartment,” Mike assured. Eddie nodded and started to yawn, Mike looked at the time on his phone.

“I think I should go, it’s getting late, and you need your rest,” Mike gave Eddie one last tight hug.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Eddie yawned and waved goodbye. Mike nodded and then walked out of the room to his car.

~

A week later the losers, Mike, and Eddie were on their way to Henry’s to get Eddie’s stuff. Mike could tell that Eddie was feeling anxious. Every few minutes Eddie would switch between tapping his fingers on the door of the car and moving his leg up and down. He was also being very quiet, which worried Mike. 

“We don’t have to do this if you’re not ready,” Mike spoke.

“What?” Eddie asked, being snapped from his thoughts.

“I said we don’t have to do this.” Eddie frowned and shook his head.

“Yes, actually we do. I can’t keep wearing your clothes to work, and I need my stuff,” Eddie wouldn’t say it out loud, but he didn’t mind wearing Mikes clothes. They were warm and made Eddie feel safe. Especially since they smelled so much like Mike, it was a little distracting sometimes.

“But you seem really anxious, and I don’t wa-” Eddie cut off Mike’s ranting.

“I’m always anxious. I’ll be fine, I just want to get my stuff and leave,” Mike nodded his head.

“Okay, I’ll stop,” Eddie smiled. It was cute how protective Mike was being, but Eddie wished he would calm down just a little. The losers and he are all going to be there, so if there are any problems, Eddie wouldn’t be alone. All week Eddie has been dreading this, he wasn’t sure if he was ready to see Henry. The week gave him a chance to think everything over, he felt stupid for staying with Henry. He was able to leave his mom, one of the main abusers in his life, but not Henry.

Soon enough Mike was pulling into the suburban neighborhood, then to Henry’s house. On the outside, the house was very well kept. All the hedges were trimmed, and there wasn’t a flower out of place. Eddie saw that all the losers were already waiting outside, and Henry’s car was gone. Relieved he stepped out of the car to the front door of the house to the front door. He unlocked it, and all the losers followed him in.

“So Ed’s,” Richie started, “Which stuff is yours?”

Eddie shook his head, “Not much, I just have my clothes and a couple pictures.”

“Alright luh-let’s get to wuh-work,” Bill ordered. Everyone separated and started to gather Eddie’s things. Mike followed Eddie to his room to help get his clothes. An hour passed and everyone almost had all of Eddie’s things. He and Mike were walking to the front with the last boxes until they were stopped by Henry opening the door. The look on his face sent a chill through Eddie’s body.

“What the hell are you doing in my house?” Henry asked.

“Getting Eddie’s things and leaving,” Mike stated.

“That’s fine, I don’t want to be with the whore anyways,” Mike’s face flushed with anger.

“Eddie is not a whore. He is one of the sweetest people that you will ever meet, and one of the best partners you will ever have. You didn’t deserve him, you took one of the best things in my life and hurt him. We are leaving, and Eddie is never coming near you again,” Mike finished his rant and pushed past Henry. The losers all followed behind in silence.

Eddie couldn’t believe what Mike just said. Was he really one of the best things in Mike’s life, or was he just saying that? Eddie got in the car, Mike was laying his head on the wheel taking deep breaths. The only sound in the vehicle were Mike’s deep breaths until Eddie spoke.

“Uh Mike, are you okay?” Mike nodded his head and looked up.

“Yeah Eddie, I’m perfect,” sarcasm evident in his voice.

“Did you mean what you said back there?” Mike looked up at Eddie and nodded.

“Yeah, I meant every word. You are one of the best things in my life.”

Eddie smiled, “That’s great to hear because you also happen to be one of the best things in my life.”

Eddie moved his face closer to Mike’s and pressed their lips together. Kissing Mike was like breathing in a breath of fresh air. His lips were smooth, and they fit perfectly against Eddie’s. Mike’s hand grabbed the side of his face and pulled Eddie closer. Before Mike could lick into Eddie’s mouth, there was a honk that startled both boys apart.

All the losers were looking at them with expecting looks.

“It’s about time,” Bev screamed. Eddie was blushing, and Mike had a big smile on his face. This was exactly where he wanted to be, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> For more follow me on Tumblr @kutekasplon


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